Update 8/25/2016: Added pages on Finding Trade Posts, Sentinels and Wanted Level, in addition to Shielding, Power, and Unstable Plasma Items. Also see my guide to Making Money in No Man's Sky for some tips on the best methods for earning cash, what crafting items are most profitable, and a list of all resources in the game.

No Man's Sky: Exosuit and Ship Slots

Expanding Inventory Capacity with Suit and Ship Upgrades

"Inventory Full!" Argh! Reduce frustation by adding carry slots to your suit and buying new ships with bigger cargo holds.

It's a frequent problem in this game that you cannot hold as many items as you want, and comes as a big issue when mining. Upgrading your inventory in No Man's Sky comes in two flavors: adding more space to the exosuit, and buying a ship with more slots. This guide focuses on the former, as upgrading it is a simple matter. You will gradually get more and more inventory space to help you gather resources. Each slot greatly improves your income potential.

Needed: Atlaspass V1

Before you can do this, you will need an AtlasPass V1. Get that, and craft one each time you run into a locked door or crate.

Space Stations

It seems to be a trend that space stations in No Man's Sky always have a door to the right (facing the exit) that requires the early atlaspass to enter. It may change in star systems that are higher 'ranked'.

Exosuit Upgrade Stations: Buy Extra Suit Slot

Inside Space Stations you may be able to purchase Exosuit Slots. Be sure to bring some money just in case. Know that you'll need AtlasPass V1 to do this. See the guide linked above.

Entering this door, sometimes you will find that there is an exosuit upgrade station. You start with 12 slots in the exosuit. My first add-on was free, and found inside one of these atlas pass doors. The second, which brought my inventory to 14 slots, cost 10,000 credits, the upgrade to 15 inventory slots was 20,000. It's possible that even more slots may take substantially more money.

Upgrades on Planets: Signal Scanners

Signal Scanner for shelter in No Man's Sky

Using the Signal Scanner to search for shelter can sometimes lead you to a suit inventory slot upgrade in No Man's Sky

On Planets, sometimes you will come across a signal scanner that requires a bypass chip to access. If you have the option, have the scanner look for a shelter. There you may find a drop pod that contains exosuit upgrades, similar to what is in the space station. Having extra inventory space doesn't just let you carry more items, it also allows you to upgrade your suit with modules that protect against various elements such as radiation, heat, and other environmental factors, or improve your jetpack to let you fly further.

Making Bypass Chips

Bypass chips can be crafted for just a few resources, so they're quite easy to make and are also sold for under 10k at most space stations and from the traveling ships that visit stations and planetary bases.

Inventory Management Tips

Your suit can stack items up to 250, but the ship can stack up to 500! So use this to your advantage. While the ship may say 'full', there may be a stack of 250 in there that you can add to by transferring the goods over to the vessel. By stacking them, you can hold more of each resource. This sometimes helps you clear out your suit inventory so you can do more mining. Conversely, this means that moving items from the ship inventory to the exosuit when doing mining in space is not very efficient - it may take 2 slots to hold one stack of items. Still, it's worth doing if you're going to soon sell those items or need them to craft gear.

Also consider destroying items you simply don't need. Got 5 stacks of commonly-found iron but have heridium or gold in front of you? Drop a couple stacks of iron to collect the higher-value material. Mouse over the items in your inventory and you'll see the average value of one unit on the galactic market. Prices can be lower or higher depending on the economy of the system you're visiting.

Getting More Ship Slots

Ships don't get inventory upgrades (as far as I know). New ships simply have larger cargo holds, thus can carry more items. A ship with 20 free slots could carry as many as 10,000 units of raw materials!

There's no known way to increase the ship's inventory, aside from buying another new ship. They start at around 300-400k for a ship that is similar to the one you could get for pre-ordering No Man's Sky. A ship with substantial improvements may cost you around 600K for just a few extra slots, to 1.2 million credits for a ship with half a dozen extra slots. They go up from there, and you can own a ship with up to 48 inventory slots, way more space for storing items and installing ship upgrades. Be sure to move your items from the old ship before buying a new one, or you'll lose everything!

Other No Man's Sky Guides